Real Statues of NYC – “Still Hunt” Central Park

This bronze sculpture of a crouching mountain cat, ready to attack, by Edward Kemeys (1843– 1907), is set on a natural rock outcropping above Central Park’s East Drive (at approximately the level of 76th Street).

Kemeys was so interested in depicting his animals in a realistic mode that he traveled to the western states to see them in their native habitat. Kemeys got his start as a sculptor when he worked as an axe-man building Central Park. One day he saw a sculptor at the Zoo who was modeling the head of a wolf and Kemeys became inspired.

sculptor of the Philadelphia Zoo statue, Hudson Bay Wolves.

Constructed in 1883, Sill Hunt is a bronze statue of a large panther. Kermeys’ original conception for the statue was that it should look realistic in its positioning and blend in with the naturalistic scenery. As a result, it is one of the few Central Park statues without a plaque.

Kemeys’ work caught the eye of “a number of modest gentlemen” who, in 1881, wanted to